Thank you, Mrs. Alicia!

Today I am going to take us back in time. Back to 1996. Do you remember what you were up to that year? I do. It was my first year in middle school, 6th grade to be exact. I was 11 years old and stood about 5’4”. I think many of my middle school friends would describe me as 50% goofball and 50% geek, and I had the glasses and braces to match. I loved learning (that hasn’t changed much), and I was extremely goofy. While I never ranked as class clown, I had my fair share of jokes, silly faces, and odd dance moves to make folks laugh.

The middle school years are often marked as a critical period of transition. They encompass the challenging preadolescent phase, ages 10 – 12, also known as “the tween years”. This chapter  comes with the onset of puberty, increased independence, and a greater awareness of socio-economic differences that shape a young person’s self-perception and esteem.

Looking back, I am so grateful for a special someone who entered my life at the start of my middle school journey and helped me navigate it all: Mrs. Alicia C. I met Mrs. Alicia through my church’s Rites of Passage Program, which provided mentorship and personal growth support to girls during their preteen years. Each girl was assigned a “preceptor”, and I was fortunate enough to have Mrs. Alicia as mine.

Mrs. Alicia and I spent a lot of time together. She picked me up on Saturdays, and we’d go to program meetings and cluster sessions. We’d talk about everything, from how I was doing in school to what TV shows I liked to watch to what she did at work that week. She was a chemical engineer for a large oil company in Texas, and she even took me to “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” one year. Needless to say, I was impressed.

When I think about the impact Mrs. Alicia has made in my life, it’s been her consistent presence and support that really made the difference. Even when the formal program ended, Mrs. Alicia remained close to me as well as my family. She traveled with my mom and me from Texas to Washington, DC, to help me move into my dorm room during my freshman year at Howard University. She attended my bridal shower, wedding, and so many other special occasions. When I went home to Houston last year, she was sure to visit and spend time with me again.

I didn’t realize it then, but Mrs. Alicia’s selfless act of mentorship would eventually serve as a blueprint for me in my young adult life. A few years after I graduated college, I signed up to mentor middle school students in Washington, DC at a nonprofit called Higher Achievement. Across three years, I was blessed with the opportunity to support Antonio, Chris, and Janae with their academic aspirations and talk through some of their middle school drama. 🙂

We spent formal mentoring time together after school each week, and I occasionally took them on “field trips” around DC on the weekends. They were quite the trio! I am still in touch with Janae through Facebook. She recently graduated college, and I am SO proud of her. We are scheduled to grab lunch together soon.

In my last blog post, A Return to Service, I mentioned that I am excited to serve on Higher Achievement’s 50th Anniversary Committee. In addition to being a volunteer mentor, I was so moved by Higher Achievement’s program that I ended up working there for three years. If you’d like to join me in supporting Higher Achievement’s 50 years of impact and mentoring in the middle years, check out my personal campaign here.

To all of the Mrs. Alicias out there, serving, supporting, and cheering on young students, girls and boys during those turbulent middle school years – I loudly say THANK YOU! We all need a Mrs. Alicia in our life. I am deeply grateful for mine.

THANK YOU, Mrs. Alicia. 🙂